Wavelength-division multiplexing optical communication system and method for measuring optical performance of an output signal for the system

ABSTRACT

A wavelength-division multiplexing optical communication system and a method for measuring optical performance of an output signal for the system. The optical communication system includes: a service-provider device; a local node; and a plurality of subscriber devices. The service-provider device includes: a plurality of first optical transceivers; a first optical multiplexer/demultiplexer (OD/OM) connected to the plurality of first optical transceivers; and a seed-light source providing seed light. Each subscriber device includes a second optical transceiver. The local node connects the service-provider device and the plurality of subscriber devices to each other using aDWDM link comprising: a second multiplexer/demultiplexer (OD/OM); and a single-mode optical fiber for transmission. Here, the optical intensity of an output signal of the second optical transceiver is determined by compensating for the value of the loss caused when the output signal passes through the second OD/OM of the local node.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a continuation application of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/118,922, filed on Nov. 20, 2013, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety as set forth in full.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a wavelength division multiplexingpassive optical network (WDM-PON), and more particularly, to a WDM-PONhaving a seed light injection-type and a method of measuring opticalperformance of an output signal in the WDM-PON.

BACKGROUND ART

In a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) passive optical network(PON), total network transmission capacity can be easily enhanced usinga plurality of channels in which optical signals have differentwavelengths. The wavelengths of signals that are transmitted andreceived in most current WDM-PON systems are fixed, and thus opticaltransceivers having different wavelengths are basically required toincrease the number of channels. That is, 40 optical transceivers havingdifferent output wavelengths are required to transmit signals of 40channels. In this case, since 40 optical transceivers having differentwavelengths must always be provided in preparation for malfunctions ofthe optical transceivers, operation comes with financial burden.

To solve this problem, seed light injection-type WDM-PONs using awavelength-independent optical transceiver that operates regardless ofwavelength have been developed. The wavelength-independent opticaltransceiver has an advantage in that wavelength can be readilydetermined according to the wavelength of seed light since the opticaltransceiver can produce an output optical signal having the samewavelength as the injected seed light. Therefore, thewavelength-independent optical transceiver can be easily replaced whenit malfunctions, and it is more economical since it is not necessary tohave a spare optical transceiver on hand for every channel.

Wavelength-independent WDM-PON (i.e., colorless WDM-PON) technologysatisfying these requirements has been widely studied all over theworld. Also, among various techniques undergoing research, one techniquethat has been developed to the point of being put into use currently iswavelength locking type WDM technology that determines outputwavelengths of a wavelength-independent light source using an incoherentbroadband light source as a seed light source.

DISCLOSURE Technical Problem

The present invention is designed to solve the problems of theconventional art, and it is an object of the present invention to enablestable communication within a seed light-injected WDM-PON using anincoherent broadband light source or a coherent light source as a seedlight source.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method ofmeasuring characteristics of a signal in a WDM-PON using an incoherentbroadband light source as a seed light source.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a methodfor measuring characteristics of an output signal of a subscriber unitin a WDM-PON that can minimize deterioration of transmission qualitiesof the output signal.

Technical Solution

In order to accomplish the above objects, one exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention provides a WDM-PON system including a serviceprovider unit, a remote node, and a plurality of subscriber units. Theservice provider unit includes a plurality of first opticaltransceivers, a first optical multiplexer/demultiplexer (OD/OM)connected to the plurality of first optical transceivers tomultiplex/demultiplex light transmitted/received to/from the pluralityof first optical transceivers, and a seed light source configured toprovide seed light, each of the plurality of subscriber units includes asecond optical transceiver, and the remote node connects the serviceprovider unit and the plurality of subscriber units to each otherthrough a second OD/OM and a dense wavelength division multiplexing(DWDM) link including a single-mode transmitting optical fiber. Also, alight intensity of an output signal from the second optical transceiveris determined by compensating for a loss value caused when the outputsignal passes through the second OD/OM of the remote node.

According to one aspect of the exemplary embodiment, the light intensityof the output signal may be determined at the location in lightintensity between the service provider unit and the remote node. Also,the compensated loss value may be a minimum value of insertion loss ofthe DWDM link.

According to another aspect of the exemplary embodiment, a wavelengthband of the optical signal propagating from the service provider unit tothe subscriber units may be different from a wavelength band of theoptical signal propagating from the subscriber units to the serviceprovider unit. In this case, the second OD/OM may be a cyclic OD/OMhaving free spectral range (FSR) characteristics.

According to still another aspect of the exemplary embodiment, thesingle-mode transmitting optical fiber may include a first single-modebidirectional fiber configured to connect the service provider unit andthe second OD/OM. Also, the single-mode transmitting optical fiber mayinclude a plurality of second single-mode bidirectional fibersconfigured to connect the second OD/OM and each of the plurality ofsubscriber units.

According to still another aspect of the exemplary embodiment, abroadband light source (BLS) may be used as the seed light source. Inaddition, a coherent light source (i.e., a multi-wavelength laser seedsource) in which output light spectra have very narrow bandwidths may beused as the seed light source.

According to still another aspect of the exemplary embodiment, anoptical transmitter of the second optical transceiver may transmit anoptical signal that satisfies an optical eye mask in which a crossinglevel between a level “1” signal and a level “0” signal is set at alevel which is lower than 50% of an intensity of the level “1” signal.In this case, the crossing level may have an intensity corresponding to45% of the intensity of the level “1” signal.

According to yet another aspect of the exemplary embodiment, an opticalreceiver of the first optical transceiver includes a threshold varyingunit configured to be able to vary a decision threshold value to 0.45 to0.35 on the assumption that an intensity of level “1” of a modulatedoptical signal is set to 1. Also, a reference transmission rate may be2.45776 Gb/s or 2.5 Gb/s. In addition, information transmitted throughthe WDM-PON system may include a forward error correction (FEC) code.

In order to accomplish the above objects, another exemplary embodimentof the present invention provides a WDM-PON system including a serviceprovider unit, a remote node, and a plurality of subscriber units. Theservice provider unit includes a plurality of first opticaltransceivers, a first OD/OM connected with the plurality of firstoptical transceivers to multiplex/demultiplex light transmitted/receivedto/from the plurality of first optical transceivers, and a seed lightsource configured to provide seed light, each of the plurality ofsubscriber units includes a second optical transceiver, and the remotenode connects the service provider unit and the plurality of subscriberunits each other through a second OD/OM and a DWDM link including asingle-mode transmitting optical fiber. Also, an optical transmitter ofthe second optical transceiver transmits an optical signal thatsatisfies an optical eye mask in which a crossing level between a level“1” signal and a level “0” signal is set at a level which is lower than50% of an intensity of the level “1” signal.

In order to accomplish the above objects, still another exemplaryembodiment of the present invention provides a method of measuring lightintensity of an output signal in the WDM-PON system including a serviceprovider unit, a remote node and a plurality of subscriber units. Themethod includes compensating for a loss value caused when an outputsignal of an optical transceiver provided in each the plurality ofsubscriber units passes through an OD/OM provided in the remote node andmeasuring light intensity of the output signal of the opticaltransceiver.

Advantageous Effects

According to the present invention, optical signal transmissionqualities required for WDM-PON in which an incoherent BLS is used as aseed light source may be obtained by adjusting wide bandwidths of anOD/OM of a DWDM link to minimize deterioration in light transmissionperformance due to crosstalk between optical channels and deteriorationin light transmission performance due to a reduction in bandwidthaccording to light isolation.

Also, a method of measuring light intensity of the TEE output signal bycompensating for optical loss in the OD/OM in the DWDM link is provided.Here, a receiver including a suitable optical eye mask and also adecision threshold varying apparatus is provided to enhance thetransmission/reception performance of an optical signal.

In addition, according to the present invention, measurement bandwidthsmay be variably adjusted according to bandwidth of the optical signal,and an effect of adjacent channels may be minimized, thereby improvingthe accuracy of transmission qualities of the measured signal.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the light intensity ofinjected seed light or possibility of stable communication can be easilydetermined regardless of the operating conditions of a user's device, byseparating only an optical signal of a channel for which the possibilityof stable communication is to be determined using an optical filter andmeasuring an optical output intensity.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram explaining a mode locking effect of a Fabry Perotlaser diode (FP-LD).

FIG. 2 shows a method of operating a seed light injection-type WDM-PON.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a structure of the seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON according to one exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 shows one examples of the expected output spectra according tothe kind of seed light sources.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a procedure of determining outputwavelengths of seed light after being injected into the TEE.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a transmission pattern according towavelengths of various arrayed waveguide gratings (AWGs).

FIG. 7 shows the relative intensity noise (RIN) characteristics of aseed light according to the characteristics of various AWGs.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the spectra of input/output signals of TEEmeasured in one exemplary embodiment in which a Gaussian passband AWG isused as an OD/OM and a reflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA)is used as the TEE.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the output spectra of a seed light accordingto the kind of second OD/OMs in a DWDM link.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the output spectra of TEE according to thekind of second OD/OMs in the DWDM link.

FIG. 11 shows the RIN values of the seed light and TEE output signalsaccording to the kind of second OD/OMs in a DWDM link.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the RIN values of optical signals after theoptical signals pass through the DWDM link.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the RIN values of optical signals after theoptical signals pass through a first OD/OM of head end equipment (HEE).

FIG. 14 shows TEE signals expected in a front stage of the HEE in theseed light injection-type WDM-PON in which a broadband light source(BLS) is used as the seed light.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing variation in signal performance accordingto interchannel crosstalk and the channel bandwidth in the seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON in which the BLS is used as the seed light.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the concept of measuring characteristics ofan optical signal in the seed light injection-type WDM-PON according toone exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the configuration of a seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON according to another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 18 shows the difference in bandwidths of signals in a typical WDMsystem and a WDM system using a seed light source.

FIG. 19 is a graph illustrating deterioration of optical characteristicswhich may be caused due to optical loss of a signal.

FIG. 20 shows a signal before optical filtering.

FIG. 21 shows a signal after optical filtering.

FIG. 22 is a graph illustrating a change in bit error rate (BER) valueof a filtered signal according to bandwidth of a filter.

FIGS. 23 to 25 are eye diagrams of electric signals when bandwidths ofeach filter are 20 GHz, 60 GHz, and 100 GHz.

FIG. 26 is a graph illustrating the transmission characteristics of aButterworth-type optical filter and the output spectra of an opticalsignal comparing the differences in intensity of signals with thevarying Butterworth order.

FIG. 27 shows a method of wavelength-dividing an optical signal using ahigh-pass filter and a low-pass filter.

FIG. 28 shows the configuration of a wavelength-variable optical filteraccording to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 schematically shows the configuration of an optical signalperformance-measuring apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating awavelength-variable optical filter according to one exemplary embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing how slicing loss changes according to thelight intensity of seed light injected into the TEE.

FIG. 32 is a graph of slicing loss versus light intensity of seed lightinjected into the TEE and operating conditions of the TEE.

FIG. 33 is a graph comparing light intensity of TEE measured in a rearstage of the DWDM link after a reference optical bandpass filter (ROBF)is installed at a front stage of the TEE according to one exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, with that of the prior art.

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing an apparatus for measuring light intensityof a TEE output signal according to one exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention provided in the WDM-PON.

FIG. 35 shows the configuration of a wavelength-variable optical filteraccording to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 36 schematically shows the configuration of an optical signalperformance-measuring apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 37 shows an optical eye mask specified in ITU-T G.959.1.

FIG. 38 shows an optical eye diagram of an optical signal after theoptical signal passes through a second OD/OM arranged in a DWDM link ina seed light injection-type WDM-PON in which a BLS is used as the seedlight.

FIG. 39 shows an optical eye mask in consideration of an optical eyediagram experimentally measured in a seed light injection-type WDM-PONin which the BLS is used as seed light.

FIG. 40 shows a wireless backup network.

FIG. 41 shows transmission results in a 2.5 Gb/s seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON.

BEST MODE

The advantages and characteristics of the present invention and methodsof achieving the advantages and characteristics will become apparentwith reference to exemplary embodiments as will be described latertogether with accompanying drawings. However, the present invention isnot intended to limit the following exemplary embodiments, but may berealized in a variety of different forms. Also, the exemplaryembodiments disclosed below are simply described to complete thedisclosure of the present invention and provide the scope of the presentinvention to those skilled in the art to which the present inventionbelongs. Accordingly, the present invention is defined only by the scopeof the claims. Meanwhile, the terminology used herein is for the purposeof describing particular exemplary embodiments only and is not intendedto limit the exemplary embodiments. The singular forms “a,” “an” and“the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless thecontext clearly indicates otherwise. Also, it should be understood thatthe terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” whenused herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components and/or groups thereof.

First, a seed light injection-type WDM-PON according to one exemplaryembodiment of the present invention will be described. In the seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON, seed light produced from a seed light sourcedisposed at a service provider unit (i.e., head end equipment (HEE)) iswavelength-divided while passing through a wavelength divisionmultiplexer disposed on an optical line. Thereafter, the wavelengthdivision-multiplexed seed light is configured to be injected into awavelength-independent light source which is used in a subscriber unit(i.e., tail end equipment (TEE)) disposed at a remote location. Anoptical amplifier-based BLS is generally used as the seed light sourcedisposed at the HEE, but the present invention is not limited thereto aswill be described later.

In this case, an inexpensive Fabry Perot laser diode (FP-LD) or areflective semiconductor optical amplifier (RSOA) may be used as thewavelength-independent light source. The FP-LD and RSOA output amplifiedspontaneous emission within a wide band of more than several tens ofnanometers, depending on the characteristics of constituents of asemiconductor.

The FP-LD shows output characteristics in which a plurality of lasersoscillate as shown in FIG. 1 since a plurality of different laserresonance modes are configured in the structure of the FP-LD. This isreferred to as a multi-mode laser. In this case, when seed light isinjected from the outside, an output mode of the FP-LD having the samewavelength band as the wavelengths of the injected seed light isselected. As a result, light having characteristics similar to outputcharacteristics of a DFB laser diode is output, as shown in the lowerpanel of FIG. 1. This is referred to as a mode locking effect.

However, the FP-LD has a problem in that, when a mode is selected, themode locking effect may differ according to the difference in centerwavelengths between seed light and each mode of the FP-LD. Also, whenthe FP-LD is directly modulated, the difference in modulation rate maybe caused according to the reflexibility of a resonator constituting theFP-LD.

Another method used to overcome this obstacle includes a method ofinjecting seed light into an RSOA. Unlike the FP-LD, the RSOA has nolaser oscillation mode formed therein since one surface of a resonatoris given a high-reflection coating and the other surface is given alow-reflection coating. Therefore, the center wavelengths of the seedlight do not necessarily match the center wavelengths of the oscillationmode, and direct modulation at 2.5 Gb/s or more is possible.

The difference in light intensity of output signals is caused due to thestructural characteristics of a RSOA-based optical transmitter or an F-PLD-based optical transmitter, depending on a polarization state of inputseed light. This is referred to as polarization-dependent gain. Tominimize the difference, a polarization state of the input seed light ispreferably maintained at 100%. An EDFA-based BLS has a degree ofpolarization of 90% or more, but a seed light source using a laser diodehas a very low degree of polarization. Therefore, the difference inlight intensity of the output signals in the TEE optical transmitter maybe caused according to the polarization state of the seed light. Tosolve this problem, it is preferable to use the RSOA-based opticaltransmitter having a low polarization-dependent gain.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a method of operating a seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON.

In the seed light injection-type WDM-PON shown in FIG. 2, an opticalsignal is produced through the following operations.

First operation: optical passband seed light is produced from a seedlight source disposed at the left portion of FIG. 2.

Second operation: the optical passband seed light is spectrum-slicedthrough a wavelength division multiplexer.

Third operation: the spectrum-sliced seed light is injected into awavelength-independent light source.

Fourth operation: the input seed light is amplified and modulated at thewavelength-independent light source and output from thewavelength-independent light source.

Unlike the WDM-PON using an optical transceiver having awavelength-dependent laser diode (LD) formed therein, the seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON as described above uses an optical transceiverhaving a wavelength-independent light source formed at a subscriber unit(TEE) side thereof. Therefore, the seed light injection-type WDM-PON hasan advantage in that the same optical transceivers may be used in aplurality of TEE. As a result, it is very easy to install the opticaltransceivers and replace the optical transceivers when the opticaltransceivers malfunction, and it is more economical since it is notnecessary to prepare for a spare optical transceiver for every opticaltransceiver currently in operation.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON according to one exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the WDM-PON includes HEE 100which is a service provider unit such as a mobile base station, and aplurality of TEE (300: 300_1, 300_2, . . . , 300_N) which are subscriberunits. Here, a dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) link 200 isinstalled between the HEE 100 and the TEE 300.

The HEE 100 is provided with a plurality of transceivers (Tx and Rx)(110: 110_1, 110_2, . . . , 110_N) and a first OD/OM 120, and is alsoprovided with a seed light source 130 configured to provide seed light.Also, the DWDM link 200 includes a transmitting optical fiber configuredto transmit an optical signal and a second OD/OM 220 configured towavelength-divide the seed light transmitted from the seed light source130 and inject the wavelength-divided seed light into a plurality of TEE300. As shown in FIG. 3, the transmitting optical fiber includes a firstsingle-mode bidirectional fiber configured to connect the HEE 100 andthe second OD/OM 220. Also, the transmitting optical fiber includes aplurality of second single-mode bidirectional fibers configured toconnect the second OD/OM 220 and each of the plurality of TEE 300.

The seed light injection-type used in the WDM-PON according to oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention uses a condition in which,when seed light is injected into a wavelength-independent light sourcesuch as FP-LD, RSOA or a reflective amplifier modulator (RAM) from theoutside of an optical transmitter constituting a transmitter asdescribed above, the FP-LD, RSOA or RAM amplifies and modulates only theinjected seed light, and the other spontaneously emitted light issaturated.

In this case, an incoherent BLS, a spectrum-sliced incoherent lightsource (i.e., a pre-spectrum sliced BLS) or a coherent light source(i.e., a multi-wavelength source, MWS) configured to produce a discreteline in every channel may be used as the seed light source 130. Thespectrum-sliced incoherent light source includes an optical filterhaving periodic transmission characteristics formed in the incoherentBLS so as to improve the efficiency of the incoherent BLS. As a result,the spectrum-sliced incoherent light source has a structure in whichseed light is primarily spectrum-sliced, and the spectrum-sliced seedlight is then re-amplified. When the seed light is produced in this way,the spectrum-sliced incoherent light source has an advantage in thatloss of the seed light may be minimized when the seed light passesthrough the OD/OM. Also, the seed light source 130 may be composed of aplurality of coherent light sources (multi-wavelength laser seedsources). For example, examples of the seed light source 130 include aspectrum-sliced incoherent BLS, a coherent light source having verynarrow optical output spectra, etc.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one example of the expected output spectraaccording to the kind of the seed light source 130. The graph of FIG. 4shows the light intensities of an incoherent BLS, a spectrum-slicedincoherent BLS and a coherent light source, sequentially from the top.In particular, referring to the output spectra of the coherent lightsource shown in the bottom of FIG. 4, a discrete line seems to beproduced in every channel since the spectra have a very narrowbandwidth.

The seed light source 130 configured thus provides a seed light to theTEE 300. Light transmitted from the seed light source 130 iswavelength-divided while passing through a transmitting optical fiberand then the second OD/OM 220, and the wavelength-divided seed light isinjected into each of the TEE 300. In this case, an optical coupler (notshown) may be further provided to input the light emitted from the seedlight source 130 into the second OD/OM 220 in the DWDM link 200. Lightdivided based on the spectra is injected into each of the TEE 300 bymeans of the second OD/OM 220, and the wavelength-independent lightsource such as FP-LD, RSOA or RAM of the TEE 300 is wavelength-fixed bythe injected light. As a result, light having the same wavelengths asthe injected light is output. In this case, the characteristics of theoutput light from the TEE 300 are determined according to thecharacteristics of the seed light and operating conditions of the TEE300. In particular, the wide bandwidths of the output light from the TEE300 depend on the wide bandwidths of the seed light. Also, the widebandwidths of the seed light are determined according to the lighttransmission characteristics of the second OD/OM 220.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a procedure of determining outputwavelengths of seed light after being injected into the TEE 300. Adotted line in FIG. 5 represents a type of an output signal of the TEE300 before seed light is input into the TEE 300. This is identical toamplified spontaneous emission (ASE) output from thewavelength-independent light source constituting the TEE 300. Also, asolid line in FIG. 5 represents a type of an output signal of the TEE300 after seed light is input into the TEE 300. From these facts, it canbe seen that a signal having certain wavelengths is output according tothe wavelengths of the seed light.

Comparing two cases using the RSOA and the FP-LD as thewavelength-independent light source, the output spectra of the amplifiedspontaneous emission change according to the reflexibility of outputterminals of the RSOA and the FP-LD, but show similar characteristicsafter the seed light is input and its wavelengths are fixed. Inparticular, when the reflexibility of the output terminal is reduced to10⁻³ or less so as to enhance a transmission rate of the FP-LD, theFP-LD shows optical output spectra very similar to the RSOA.

Meanwhile, when BLS is used as the seed light, the seed light outputfrom the HEE 100 is wavelength-divided while passing through the secondOD/OM 220, and input into the TEE 300. In this procedure, thecorrelation formed between the same frequencies in the seed light isbroken. As a result, relative intensity noise (RIN) characteristics ofthe seed light are deteriorated.

The RIN characteristics of the optical signal are important since theRIN characteristics are directly related to the transmission quality ofthe optical signal. The RIN characteristics of the optical signal areinversely proportional to bandwidths of a signal. That is, as thebandwidths of the optical signal increase, a degree of mutual beatingbetween incoherent signals is decreased, thereby improving the RINcharacteristics of the optical signal. An arrayed waveguide grating(AWG) using a multiple waveguide array method or a thin film filter(TFF) having multiple thin film coating layer is used as the OD/OM. Inthe case of the DWDM-PON having a large number of channels, the AWG isgenerally used as the OD/OM. The AWGs may be divided into a Gaussianpassband AWG, a Flattop passband AWG and a wide Gaussian passband AWGhaving the mean characteristics between the Gaussian passband AWG andthe Flattop passband AWG, depending on the transmission bandwidths ofthe AWGs.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a transmission pattern according to thewavelengths of the Gaussian passband AWG and the Flattop passband AWG.Referring to FIG. 6, it can be seen that the Flattop passband AWG haswider transmission bandwidths than the Gaussian passband AWG accordingto the wavelengths. Therefore, when the BLS is used as the seed light,the RIN characteristics of the seed light spectrum-sliced using theFlattop passband AWG are more improved compared to those of the seedlight spectrum-sliced using the Gaussian passband AWG.

FIG. 7 shows the RIN characteristics of a seed light according to theGaussian passband AWG and the Flattop passband AWG. Referring to FIG. 7,when the Flattop passband AWG is used, it can be seen that the RINcharacteristics are further improved.

Meanwhile, according to theoretical calculation, an RIN value of anoptical signal, which is input into Rx in the HEE required to transmitthe optical signal without an error should be equal to or less than −110dB/Hz in the case of the seed light injection-type WDM-PON having atransmission rate of 1.25 Gb/s. According to the experimental resultsconducted by the present inventors, however, the optical signal may betransmitted without an error even when the RIN value is −109 dB/Hz.

The wide bandwidths of the OD/OM satisfying the above-describedrequirements are proposed in one exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

According to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the RSOAmay be, for example, used as the wavelength-independent opticaltransceiver (TEE) in which seed light is input to determine thewavelengths of the seed light. The RSOA functions as a modulatorconfigured to amplify the input seed light and simultaneously modulatethe amplified seed light. However, the RSOA essentially has a nonlinearindex since a gain medium is formed of a semiconductor material. As aresult, an optical signal output from the RSOA also shows nonlinearcharacteristics.

The representative nonlinear characteristics of the RSOA includecharacteristics in which an output signal has wider bandwidths than aseed light, and characteristics in which the wavelengths of the outputsignal shifts toward a long wavelength. The characteristics are stronglyachieved as the intensity of the seed light input into the RSOA and anoperating current of the RSOA increase.

FIG. 8 shows the spectra of seed light and a TEE output signal measuredin one example in which the Gaussian passband AWG is used as the OD/OMand the RSOA is used as the TEE. In FIG. 8, TP1 represents the opticalspectra of the seed light, TP2 represents the optical spectra of the TEEoutput signal, and TP3 represents the optical spectra of the TEE signalafter passing through the second OD/OM in the DWDM link.

Referring to FIG. 8, it can be seen that the TEE output signal has wideroptical spectra than the seed light. The optical signal output from theTEE passes through the OD/OM in the DWDM link and is transmitted into areceiving stage of the HEE. Therefore, the loss of data frequencycomponents required for a transmission signal as well as the loss ofoptical power should be compromised due to the difference between thetransmission bandwidths of the second OD/OM and the bandwidths of theTEE output signal. As a result, the transmission qualities of a signalare reduced.

Therefore, in the seed light injection-type WDM-PON using the incoherentBLS as the seed light source, an RIN value of seed light injected intothe TEE is not only determined but also the transmission qualities ofthe signal output from the TEE are determined according to the widebandwidths of the OD/OM. As a result, it is very important to select thewide bandwidths of the OD/OM, and thus the wide bandwidths of the OD/OMshould be determined in consideration of the transmission qualities ofthe seed light injection-type WDM-PON to be achieved.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the output spectra of seed light accordingto the kind of the second OD/OM in the DWDM link. Output signals used inGaussian passband AWGs 1 and 2 and Flattop passband AWGs 1 and 2 areshown in FIG. 9. Here, the Gaussian passband AWGs 1 and 2 and theFlattop passband AWGs 1 and 2 have different bandwidths.

As shown in FIG. 9, the spectra of the output seed light are widelymeasured according to the wide bandwidths of the OD/OM.

The following Table 1 lists the bandwidth of the seed light according tothe kind of the second OD/OM in the DWDM link.

TABLE 1 1 dB BW 2 dB BW 3 dB BW 10 dB BW 15 dB BW Units pm GHz pm GHz PmGHz pm GHz pm GHz Gaussian 1 231 28.875 326 40.75 398 49.75 717 89.625872 109 Gaussian 2 264 33 374 46.75 458 57.25 831 103.875 1001 125.125Flat-top 1 405 50.625 493 61.625 559 69.875 837 104.625 966 120.75Flat-top 2 503 62.875 598 74.75 663 82.875 931 116.375 1050 131.25

FIG. 10 shows the output spectra of the TEE. When the RSOA is used asthe TEE Tx, the spectra of injected seed light become wider than thespectra of an output signal due to the nonlinearity of the RSOA.However, it is shown that, when an input value is −15 dBm, the wideningeffect is not significant. An increase in intensity of the seed lightcauses an increase in an optical carrier in the TEE Tx, therebyenhancing the modulation characteristics of the optical signal. However,the seed light input into the TEE Tx may have an intensity of at least−18 dBm in consideration of economic efficiency, output light intensityof the seed light in the technically realizable HEE, the loss and lossmargin of the DWDM link, and transmission performance.

The bandwidth of the seed light and also the wide bandwidths of the TEEoutput signal passing through the second OD/OM change according to achange in standard of the second OD/OM in the DWDM link. The followingTable 2 lists the bandwidths of the TEE output signals measuredaccording to the kind and shape of the OD/OM in the DWDM link. From themeasured results, it can be seen that the bandwidths of the TEE outputsignals are determined in proportion to the optical pass band of theseed light input as shown in FIG. 9.

TABLE 2 1 dB BW 2 dB BW 3 dB BW 10 dB BW 15 dB BW Units pm GHz pm GHz pmGHz pm GHz pm GHz Gaussian 1 253 31.625 356 44.5 425 53.125 735 91.875933 116.625 Gaussian 2 217 27.125 325 40.625 417 52.125 847 105.875 1041130.125 Flat-top 1 454 56.75 522 65.25 578 72.25 865 108.125 1049131.125 Flat-top 2 481 60.125 584 73 650 81.25 955 119.375 1151 143.875

The change in standard of the OD/OM in the DWDM link causes a change inRIN characteristics of the TEE output signal. FIG. 11 shows the RINvalues of the TEE output signals measured according to the kind ofOD/OMs.

In the case of the TEE output signal, the RIN value of the TEE signal islower than that of the seed light due to an intensity noise suppressioneffect of the RSOA used as a signal light source. Therefore, when thespectrum-sliced seed light is modulated using an external modulator, ahigh RIN value of the seed light is not suitable for signal transmissionat a rate of 1.25 Gb/s. However, when the RSOA or FP-LD is used as theTEE, it is possible to transmit a signal at a rate of 1.25 Gb/s or moredue to an increase in RIN value.

As the TEE output signal passes through the second OD/OM and the opticalfiber in the DWDM link and is then transmitted toward the HEE, the RINcharacteristics are deteriorated due to a filtering effect of the secondOD/OM and a chromatic dispersion effect of the optical fiber. That is, adegree of correlation of the TEE output optical signals is lowered dueto these effects, and thus RIN at the same frequencies increases.

FIG. 12 shows the RIN values of the TEE output signals after passingthrough the DWDM link. Referring to FIG. 12, it can be seen that the RINvalues are severely decreased when a Gaussian-type OD/OM havingrelatively narrow wide bandwidths is used. FIG. 13 shows the RIN valuesof the TEE output signals measured after passing through the first OD/OMof the HEE. As described above, when a Flattop-type first OD/OM is used,the filtering effect is achieved at a lesser extent, compared with theuse of the Gaussian-type OD/OM. As a result, an RIN penalty ofapproximately 1 to 2 dB may be caused.

Accordingly, when an optical signal has an interval of 100 GHz, atransmission rate of 1.25 Gb/s, a signal code of NRZ and a maximumdispersion value of 400 ps/nm/km in the WDM-PON using an incoherent BLSas the seed light source, the wide bandwidths of the second OD/OM andthe TEE output signal are preferably set as listed in the followingTable 3 so as to transmit an optical signal without an error with no useof forward error correction (FEC) in consideration of the opticalpassband characteristics of typical AWGs, a noise suppression effect ofthe RSOA, a filtering effect of the OD/OM, and a chromatic dispersioneffect of the optical fiber. Also, since the first OD/OM generally usesthe same standard as the second OD/OM, the Flattop-type AWG may also beused as the second OD/OM.

TABLE 3 Bandwidth Minimum Maximum Wide bandwidths of 1-dB 50 GHz 65 GHzsecond OD/OM 2-dB 60 GHz 75 GHz 3-dB 70 GHz 85 GHz 10-dB  100 GHz  120GHz  Wide bandwidths of 1-dB 55 GHz 60 GHz TEE signal 2-dB 65 GHz 75 GHz3-dB 70 GHz 85 GHz 10-dB  105 GHz  120 GHz 

That is, the first and second OD/OMs may have a minimum 1-dB widebandwidth of 25 GHz and a maximum 1-dB wide bandwidth of 65 GHz, and aminimum 3-dB wide bandwidth of 45 GHz and a maximum 3-dB wide bandwidthof 85 GHz. Here, the 1-dB wide bandwidth and the 3-dB wide bandwidthrefer to positions at which each of 1-dB and 3-dB losses is added to theminimum insertion loss value. The fact that the performance of theoutput optical signal is determined according to the bandwidths of thesecond OD/OM in the DWDM link is the same as described above. In thiscase, an additional technical point to be considered is crosstalkbetween channels.

FIG. 14 shows the wavelength-multiplexed TEE signals expected in a frontstage of the HEE when the BLS is used as the seed light in the seedlight injection-type WDM-PON according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

When the BLS is used as the seed light, the optical spectra of each TEEsignal are output in proportion to the transmission characteristics inevery channel of the second OD/OM in the DWDM link. Generally, the factthat the AWG is used as the OD/OM in the DWDM link is the same asdescribed above. Crosstalk between channels is caused in the AWG due tothe limit to light isolation performance among the physicalcharacteristics of the AWG.

In FIG. 14, a region in which the spectra of one channel overlap thespectra of another channel within the bandwidths of the respectivechannels (a slashed region) represents crosstalk between the channels.

Especially in the case of the intermediate channels, the lighttransmission performance may be deteriorated due to such interchannelcrosstalk. To reduce the interchannel crosstalk, the bandwidths of theAWG channel may be narrowed to improve light isolation performance.However, the RIN performance of the channels themselves deteriorates dueto a decrease in bandwidths of the channels. As a result, the lighttransmission performance is deteriorated. Such a change in performanceis shown in FIG. 15.

As shown in FIG. 15, when the Gaussian passband AWG having relativelynarrower wide bandwidths is used as the OD/OM, deterioration of thelight transmission performance caused by the interchannel crosstalk maybe suppressed, but the light transmission performance may bedeteriorated due to the narrowed bandwidths of the channels. On theother hand, when the Flattop passband AWG having wide channel bandwidthsis used, the light transmission performance is improved due to the widebandwidths of the channels, but the light transmission performance isdeteriorated due to an increased in interchannel crosstalk.

Therefore, among the bandwidths of the OD/OM used in the seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON, which transmits a plurality of optical signals,the optimum bandwidths should be selected in consideration of theabove-described characteristics. Here, this may be a crossing pointbetween the dotted line and the solid line shown in FIG. 15. Therefore,the wide Gaussian AWG may be used as the OD/OM.

In the case of the wide Gaussian AWG used as the OD/OM, the interchannelcrosstalk at a certain AWG channel n is expressed by the differencebetween the insertion loss at grid wavelength λn of channel n and theinsertion loss at grid wavelengths of each channel Crosstalk at channeln

1 wavelengths (λn−1 and λn+1) is referred to as adjacent crosstalk.Non-adjacent crosstalk is defined by the difference between theinsertion loss at λ=λn and the maximum insertion loss at a wavelengthrange of λ≦λn−1 and λ≧λn+1. The interchannel crosstalk should be as lowas possible, but is generally in a range of −25 dB to −35 dB. The AWGused in the seed light injection-type WDM-PON preferably has as lowinterchannel crosstalk as possible.

Here, the OD/OM is preferably composed of cyclic AWGs which maydifferently use a wavelength band of an optical signal propagating fromthe HEE to the TEE and a wavelength band of an optical signalpropagating from the TEE to the HEE using the free spectral rangecharacteristics, which are innate characteristics of the AWG. By way ofexample, it is assumed that an L-band is used as a wavelength band of anoptical signal output from the HEE and a C-band is used as a wavelengthband of an optical signal output from the TEE in the seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON, a C-band AWG, an L-band AWG and a plurality ofoptical couplers configured to couple the C-band AWG and the L-band AWGare required when the OD/OM is not composed of cyclic AWGs. However,when the OD/OM is used as the cyclic AWG, the OD/OM may be simplyconfigured.

More particularly, a signal may be transmitted between the HEE and theDWDM link in both directions, and also be transmitted between the DWDMlink and the TEE in both directions. When the same frequencies are usedto transmit a signal in both directions, the transmission qualities ofthe optical signal may be deteriorated due to the reflected signalsproduced in the DWDM link. Therefore, the signal transmitted from theTEE to the HEE may be set differently from a frequency band of theoptical signal, and a signal transmitted from the HEE to the TEE may beset differently from a frequency band of the optical signal.

In the signal transmitted from the TEE to the HEE, a frequency intervalspecified in the international standard organization such as ITU-T isused as a frequency interval of the optical signal. However, a frequencyinterval of the optical signal transmitted from the HEE to the TEE isdetermined according to the frequencies of the OD/OM used in the DWDMlink.

A cyclic AWG may be generally used as the OD/OM used in the DWDM link.The cyclic AWG uses physical and optical characteristics which arereferred to as a free spectral range. According to such characteristics,when signals having different wavelength bands are input into terminalsdisposed at one side of the AWG, two optical signals having a differencein wavelengths as many as a free spectral range are output fromterminals disposed at the other side of the AWG.

As described above, in the transmission technology of the seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON, the wavelength band of the signal transmittedfrom the TEE to the HEE and the wavelength band of the signaltransmitted from the HEE to the TEE may be differently used. In thiscase, when the wavelength band of the signal transmitted from the TEE tothe HEE is used at a range of 1,520 nm to 1,565 nm (C-band), the priceof optical elements constituting the TEE may be reduced. Also, thewavelength band of the signal transmitted from the HEE to the TEE may beused at a range of 1,570 nm to 1,610 nm (L-band).

In this case, when the cyclic AWG is used in the DWDM link, an intervalof the optical signal transmitted from the TEE to the HEE may be formedat an interval of 100 GHz or 50 GHz, as specified by the ITU-T. On theother hand, an interval of the optical signal transmitted from the HEEto the TEE may not be formed at an interval of 100 GHz or 50 GHzspecified by the ITU-T due to the characteristics of the cyclic AWG. Ingeneral, the interval of the optical signal is formed at an interval ofapproximately 97 GHz.

A silica material forming the AWG causes a state in which the differencein refractive index according to a temperature is caused, therebyshifting the center frequencies of the AWG. As a result, the differencein transmission bandwidths between two OD/OMs is caused since the centerfrequencies of the first OD/OM the center frequencies of the secondOD/OM are shifted to different extents as the external temperaturechanges. As a result, the performance of the optical signal may bedegraded. Therefore, a temperature control device needs to beadditionally installed at the AWG to maintain a constant temperature ofthe AWG. However, when the OD/OM is used in the DWDM link, power shouldbe supplied to the temperature control device of the AWG, which leads todifficulty of applications. To solve the problem, an athermal AWG ispreferably used in an aspect of applications so that the OD/OM in theDWDM link can have the constant light transmission characteristicsregardless of the change in room temperature. The representativeathermal technology includes an input fiber-variable method, a slicedslab waveguide-variable method, and a method using different materials(polymers) having different refractive index characteristics withrespect to a temperature.

In the seed light injection-type WDM-PON according to one exemplaryembodiment of the present invention, an apparatus and method formeasuring the performance of an optical signal will be described.According to exemplary embodiments as will be described later, theconfiguration of the WDM-PON is based on the WDM-PON described abovewith reference to FIG. 3. Therefore, the items which are not describedherein in detail may be identically applied to the items described abovewith reference to FIG. 3

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the concept of measuring characteristics ofan optical signal in the seed light injection-type WDM-PON according toone exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The entire configuration of the seed light injection-type WDM-PON shownin FIG. 16 is similar to the above-described configuration of FIG. 3,the performance of an output optical signal of the TEE 300 is measuredat a position after the output optical signal passes through the DWDMlink 200 and before the output optical signal is input into the HEE 100.For this purpose, an optical signal performance-measuring apparatus 400may be connected between the second OD/OM 220 and the first OD/OM 120.The kinds of apparatuses for measuring the performance of an opticalsignal are not particularly limited. Here, a variety of opticalreceivers may be used herein. In this case, the performance of anoptical signal to be measured may include a light intensity, RIN, and anoptical eye diagram.

When the optical signal performance-measuring apparatus 400 is anapparatus for measuring an intensity of an output optical signal fromthe TEE 300, the optical signal performance-measuring apparatus 400 maybe an optical signal intensity-measuring apparatus. More particularly,the optical signal performance-measuring apparatus 400 for measuring anintensity of an optical signal functions to measure intensities ofoptical signals emitted from the TEE 300, more particularly from opticaltransceivers (Tx) of respective subscriber units of the TEE 300. In thiscase, the measuring apparatus 400 measures the intensity of the outputoptical signal by compensating for the loss caused when the outputoptical signal from the TEE 300 passes through the second OD/OM 220. Theloss caused when the output optical signal from the TEE 300 passesthrough the second OD/OM 220 refers to the loss caused by insertion ofthe DWDM link 200. In this case, the insertion loss may be a minimumvalue of the insertion loss of the DWDM link 200. For example, theminimum value may be 3 dB.

As described above, RSOA, FP-LD or REAM used as the TEE Tx functions toreceive seed light and amplify and modulate the received seed light. Inthis case, the TEE Tx outputs an optical signal having the samewavelength band as the wavelengths of the seed light, as well as ASEhaving the other wavelength bands. This is shown in FIG. 5. Therefore,when an intensity of the optical signal is measured at a front stage ofthe TEE Tx, an intensity of the ASE is also measured in addition to theintensity of the optical signal. Therefore, a wide band filter forremoving the ASE should be used for accurate measurement.

For standardization of the wide band filter, the bandwidth of the seedlight is determined by the second OD/OM 220 of the DWDM link 200 in thecase of the seed light injection-type WDM-PON. Therefore, the standardof the wide band filter is preferably identical to that of the secondOD/OM 220 of the DWDM link 200. As a result, when the intensity of theoutput optical signal from the TEE 300 is measured, the second OD/OM 220in the DWDM link 200 is used as the wide band filter for removing theASE. According to one exemplary embodiment, since a maximum value ofloss caused by the second OD/OM 220 is given, the maximum value of lossmay be applied to calculate an intensity of the output optical signalfrom the TEE 300 for the second OD/OM 220 in the DWDM link 200. Themaximum value of loss caused by the second OD/OM 220 of the DWDM link200 is in a range of approximately 5 dB to 6 dB.

Meanwhile, since the RIN and optical eye diagram are values measuredregardless of loss at the second OD/OM 220, there is no need tocompensate for the loss.

MODE FOR INVENTION

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the configuration of a seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON according to another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. The configuration of the WDM-PON shown in FIG. 17 maybe one exemplary embodiment of the WDM-PON shown in FIG. 16. That is,the optical signal performance-measuring apparatus 400 shown in FIG. 16is configured to include an optical filter 410 and an optical receiver420, as shown in FIG. 17. Hereinafter, on the basis of the differenttimes described above, this exemplary embodiment will be described withreference to FIGS. 3 and 16.

As shown in FIG. 17, since the first OD/OM 120 and the opticaltransceivers (110: 110_1, 110_2, . . . , 110_N) included in the HEE 100may have different characteristics according to manufacturers, theoptical characteristics of optical signals are preferably measuredbefore the optical signals are input into the HEE 100. As a result,according to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, anoptical filter 410 and an optical receiver 420, which may separate someof optical signals wavelength-multiplexed at the front stage of the HEE100 using a tap, wavelength-demultiplex each of the signals and separatethe wavelength-demultiplexed signals, are connected to measure theoptical characteristics of each signal. Here, the optical filter 410 andthe optical receiver 420 are connected to a signal processing unit (notshown) so that the optical filter 410 can be driven according to motioninformation provided from the optical receiver 420.

The structure of the optical filter of the optical signalperformance-measuring apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention will be described in detail.

The optical filter of the optical signal performance-measuring apparatusis used to separate each signal whose characteristics are intended to bemeasured. Therefore, an optical filter having the same transmissioncharacteristics as the wide bandwidths of a signal to be measured ispreferably used. Here, the optical filter reduces the intensities ofadjacent signals as small as possible so that the intensities of theadjacent signals cannot affect measurement of the performance of awavelength-divided signal. More particularly, the difference inintensity between an optical signal to be measured and its adjacentsignals is preferably equal to or more than 20 dB.

However, in the communication system having a wavelength divisionmultiplexing mode using the seed light as the signal light source asdescribed in the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, theoptical signal has a wide line width of several tens of GHz, unlike thecommunication system having a wavelength division multiplexing modeusing a typical laser diode as the signal light source. As a result, afilter suitable for the bandwidths of the optical signal should bedesigned.

FIG. 18 shows the difference in bandwidths of signals in a typical WDMsystem and a WDM system using a seed light source. As seen from thespectra of output optical signals shown in FIG. 18, a signal may bewavelength-divided using the OD/OM 220 used in the DWDM link 200 in thecase of a mode using an LD. In the case of the seed lightinjection-type, however, when a signal is wavelength-divided using theOD/OM 220, the performance of the optical signal may be degraded due tooptical loss of the signal caused during the wavelength division.

FIG. 19 is a graph illustrating deterioration of optical characteristicswhich may be caused due to optical loss of a signal, and FIGS. 20 and 21shows signals before optical filtering and after the optical filtering,respectively. When a short wavelength band of the optical signal is lostdue to the optical filtering as shown in FIG. 19, it can be seen thatthe characteristics of the signal are deteriorated, as shown in FIG. 21.

FIG. 22 is a graph illustrating a change in BER value of a filteredsignal according to bandwidth of a filter, and FIGS. 23, 24 and 25 showeye diagrams of electric signals when bandwidths of each filter are 20GHz, 60 GHz, and 100 GHz, respectively. As shown in FIGS. 22 to 25, itcan be seen that the transmission qualities of a signal are deterioratedas bandwidth of a filter becomes narrow. As a result, it can be seenthat a filter for minimizing an effect on the qualities of the signalshould have a bandwidth of 80 GHz or more. Also, the optical filter ofthe optical signal performance-measuring apparatus according to oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention is preferably in aButterworth shape or a shape similar to a substantially rectangularshape. This is intended so that the difference in intensity between asignal to be measured after the optical filtering and adjacent signalsis equal to or more than 20 dB.

FIG. 26 is a graph illustrating the transmission characteristics of aButterworth-type optical filter and the output spectra of an opticalsignal comparing the differences in intensity of signals with thevarying Butterworth order. As shown in FIG. 26, it can be seen that, asthe Butterworth order increases, the transmission characteristics of afilter according to the wavelengths are steeply formed, which leads toan increase in loss of adjacent optical signals.

The following Table 4 lists the differences in light intensity of asignal to be measured and adjacent signals measured when the signal tobe measured and the adjacent signals pass through a Butterworth-typewide band filter.

TABLE 4 Butter- worth Measured Adjacent Adjacent order channel channel 1channel 2 4^(th) order Light intensity of −21.5 dBm −45.74 dBm  −45.3dBm each signal Difference 24.24 dB   23.8 dB in light intensity 3^(rd)order Light intensity of −21.6 dBm  −41.2 dBm −40.84 dBm each signalDifference  19.6 dB 19.24 dB  in light intensity

As shown in Table 4, the difference in light intensity between a channelto be measured and adjacent channels increases as the Butterworth orderincreases. As a result, the Butterworth-type optical filter is used asthe optical filter of the optical signal performance-measuringapparatus. In this case, an optical filter having a substantiallyrectangular shape is preferably used.

As one exemplary embodiment of the optical filter of optical signalperformance-measuring apparatus according to the present invention, anoptical filter may be formed from a combination of a high-pass filterand a low-pass filter, both of which are wavelength-variable. In thiscase, loss of the optical signal may be minimized by adjusting theoperating wavelengths of the high-pass filter and the low-pass filtereven when the bandwidths of an optical signal are shifted, followed byadjusting the transmission bandwidths of the filters suitable for thebandwidths of the optical signal.

FIG. 27 shows a method of wavelength-dividing an optical signal usingthe high-pass filter and the low-pass filter. As shown in FIG. 27, thehigh-pass filter may be used to cut off an optical signal having awavelength of λn−1 or less, and the low-pass filter may be used to cutoff an optical signal having a wavelength of λn+1 or less, therebyextracting an optical signal having a wavelength of λn+1.

FIG. 28 shows the configuration of a wavelength-variable optical filteraccording to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shownin FIG. 28, the wavelength-variable optical filter according to oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a firsttransmission filter 411 and a second transmission filter 422. The firsttransmission filter 411 may be composed of a low-pass filter or ahigh-pass filter, and the second transmission filter 422 may be composedof a low-pass filter or a high-pass filter according to theconfiguration of the first transmission filter. In this case, since eachfilter can adjust the operating wavelengths, the operating wavelengthsmay be adjusted so that the operating wavelengths can be suitable forthe wavelengths of a signal to be transmitted.

In the optical signal performance-measuring apparatus according to oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention, the operating wavelengthsof the wavelength-variable optical filter is set to such an extent thatdeterioration of the qualities of a filtered optical signal can beminimized. In this case, the qualities of the optical signal may bedetermined using RIN, etc.

FIG. 29 schematically shows the configuration of an optical signalperformance-measuring apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention. As shown in FIG. 29, the optical signalperformance-measuring apparatus according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention includes an optical filter unit 410, an opticalreceiver 420 and a signal processing unit 430. Here, the optical filterunit 410 includes a first transmission filter 411 and a secondtransmission filter 412. The signal processing unit 430 produces firstand second control signals configured to control the first transmissionfilter 411 and the second transmission filter 412 according to thequalities of an optical signal received at the optical receiver 420, andprovides the first and second control signals to the first transmissionfilter 411 and the second transmission filter 412, respectively.

Hereinafter, a method of operating another wavelength-variable opticalfilter according to one exemplary embodiment of the present inventionwill be described.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating awavelength-variable optical filter according to one exemplary embodimentof the present invention. As shown in FIG. 31, first, the operatingwavelengths of a low-pass filter matches the center wavelengths of achannel to be measured (S1010). Next, the operating wavelengths of ahigh-pass filter matches the center wavelengths of a channel to bemeasured (S1020). In this case, the characteristics of an opticalreception unit are measured while varying the center wavelengths of thelow-pass filter (S1030), and the operating wavelengths of a filter aredetermined so that the qualities of the measured optical signal can beoptimized (S1040). Thereafter, the characteristics of the opticalreception unit are measured while varying the center wavelengths of thehigh-pass filter (S1050), and the operating wavelengths of the filterare determined so that the qualities of the measured optical signal canbe optimized (S1060). When the operating wavelengths are determined asdescribed above, the qualities of the optical signal are measured(S1070). When the measurement is completed, this operation is finished,or the above-described operations are repeatedly performed afterreturning to Operation S1010 so as to measure the characteristics ofadjacent channels. However, those skilled in the art will understandthat the above-described operations may be performed regardless of anoperation sequence of the low-pass filter and the high-pass filter.

As described above, the measurement bandwidths may be variably adjustedaccording to the bandwidths of the optical signal by wavelength-dividingthe optical signal and measuring characteristics of the optical signalusing the wavelength-variable optical filter. Also, the accuracy of thetransmission qualities of the measured signal may be improved since aneffect of the adjacent channels may be minimized.

Next, the seed light injection-type WDM-PON according to anotherexemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described. Thisexemplary embodiment is associated with measurement of an intensity ofan optical signal as one example of measuring the optical performance inthe WDM-PON.

An easy method of determining stable communication of an optical signalis to determine whether a light intensity of the output signal from theHEE (or TEE) falls within the reception sensitivity of an opticalreceiver disposed at the TEE (or HEE) after consideration of loss causedin the DWDM link. In this case, the loss caused in the DWDM link, whichis considered in the ITU-T standard document, includes OD/OM insertionloss, optical pass loss, optical fiber insertion loss, etc. Unlike thecase in which a light source having a narrow line width such as a laserdiode is used, a saturation level of incoherent modes is changedaccording to the light intensity of the seed light, which isspectrum-sliced and injected into the TEE, in the case of a WDM opticalcommunication system using the incoherent BLS as the seed light. As aresult, components of the less saturated optical signal are multiplexedthrough the OD/OM disposed in the DWDM link, which leads to additionalloss.

This will be described in further detail with reference to FIG. 31. FIG.31 is a diagram showing how slicing loss changes according to the lightintensity of seed light injected into the TEE. Here, two cases in whichthe wavelength-divided seed light has a high intensity (Case I) and alow intensity (Case II) are shown.

Panel {circumflex over (1)} of FIG. 31 shows the optical output spectrafor two cases in which the spectrum-sliced seed light injected into theTEE 300 has a high intensity (Case I) and a low intensity (Case II).Panel {circumflex over (2)} of FIG. 31 shows the optical power of theTEE 300 after mode locking for the two cases of the seed lightintensities. Panel {circumflex over (3)} of FIG. 31 shows a procedure ofmultiplexing the optical power of the TEE 300 through the second OD/OM220 in the DWDM link 200. In this case, an optical signal in a regionindicated by grey is cut off. Thus, it can be seen that a region of theoptical signal to be cut off is differently determined according to thelight intensity of the seed light which is spectrum-sliced and injectedinto the TEE 300. Panel {circumflex over (4)} of FIG. 31 shows opticalsignals which are multiplexed through the second OD/OM 220 andtransmitted toward the HEE 100.

In the case of the WDM-PON sing the incoherent BLS as the seed light asdescribed above, the additional loss (slicing loss) caused during themultiplexing operation at the second OD/OM 220 exists in addition ofloss caused at the DWDM link 200 that is generally considered. Suchslicing loss may not be converted into any numerical value unlike theother loss caused in the DWDM link 200 since a suppression level ofincoherent modes varies according to the light intensity of seed lightinjected as shown in FIG. 32 and operating conditions of thewavelength-independent light source disposed at the TEE 300.

Therefore, according to one exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, a reference optical bandpass filter (ROBF) is provided in thefront stage of the TEE to determine whether the optical output intensityof the TEE is sufficient to perform stable communication of an opticalsignal in the WDM optical communication system, and optical outputintensity of the TEE is then checked using the ROBF. That is, tominimize the difference in loss caused by the additional loss (slicingloss) incurred during an operation of multiplexing a signal output fromthe TEE 300 through second OD/OM 220 in the DWDM link 200, an opticalfilter is used to separate a TEE output signal. In this case, after thebandwidths of the optical filter are possibly set at channel intervalsof the second OD/OM, it is necessary to measure an intensity of theseparated optical signal. As a result, the constant intensity of the TEEoutput signal may be measured even when a suppression level of theincoherent modes varies according to the light intensity of the seedlight and operating conditions of the wavelength-independent lightsource disposed at the TEE 300. Thus, the difference in additional lossby the second OD/OM does not take place. Therefore, the significantoptical output intensity of the TEE may be checked by separating only anoptical signal of a channel through which the stable communicationprobability is to be checked.

FIG. 33 is a graph comparing TEE light intensity, which is obtained byinstalling an ROBF 510 at a front stage of the TEE 300 according to oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention to measure a lightintensity and comparing the measured light intensity with the TEE lightintensity at a rear stage of the DWDM link, with that of the prior art.As shown in FIG. 33, the light intensity of a signal is measured at thefront stage of the TEE in the same manner as in a conventional techniquewhich does not use an ROBF, and the light intensity of a signal ismeasured at the rear state of the DWDM link. Then, when the lightintensities of the two signals are compared with each other, thedifference in comparison value is caused according to the intensity ofthe seed light input into the TEE. However, when the light intensity ofa signal is measured at the front stage of the TEE using an ROBF, thelight intensity of a signal is measured at the rear stage of the DWDMlink, and the light intensities of the two signals are compared witheach other, it can be seen that a change in light intensity valuemeasured according to the intensity of the seed light input into the TEEis not caused. That is, it can be seen that the difference in losscaused by the additional loss (slicing loss) incurred during themultiplexing process through the second OD/OM 220 becomes uniform.

That is, when the light intensity is measured at the front stage of theTEE in the same manner as in a conventional technique, a relativelyhigher light intensity may be measured during the actual communicationdue to the effect of the TEE on ASE, compared with the signaltransmitted at certain wavelengths according to the wavelength of a seedlight which is a significant signal. As described above, however, whenthe light intensity is measured at the front stage of the TEE using theROBF, the effect of the TEE on the ASE may be minimized. Based on thefacts, when the light intensity is compared with the light intensity ofthe signal measured at the rear stage of the DWDM link, it is possibleto determine whether the stable communication is possible based on themeasured light intensity. Therefore, when the TEE output signal ismeasured using the ROBF according to one exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, it is possible to obtain a significant lightintensity.

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing the configuration of a seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON according to another exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention. The configuration of the WDM-PON shown in FIG. 34 maybe one exemplary embodiment of the WDM-PON provided with an apparatusfor measuring the above-described light intensity of the TEE outputsignal. Hereinafter, on the basis of the different times describedabove, this exemplary embodiment will be described with reference toFIGS. 3, 16 and 17.

FIG. 34 is a diagram showing the WDM-PON according to one exemplaryembodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 34, an ROBF 510and an optical receiver 520 are installed at the front stage of the TEE300. The ROBF 510 is composed of a wavelength-variable filter. In thiscase, a wavelength-variable filter whose bandwidths are fixed may beused. However, when the bandwidths of an optical signal are changed,another wavelength-variable filter should be used. Therefore, to solvethe problem, a high-pass filter and a low-pass filter are connected inseries to form a wavelength-variable filter, which may be used herein.The method of wavelength-dividing an optical signal using the high-passfilter and the low-pass filter has been described with reference to FIG.27. Therefore, description of the method is omitted for clarity.

FIG. 35 shows the configuration of a wavelength-variable optical filteraccording to one exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shownin FIG. 35, the wavelength-variable optical filter 510 according to thisexemplary embodiment includes a first transmission filter 511 and asecond transmission filter 512. The first transmission filter 511 may becomposed of a low-pass filter or a high-pass filter, and the secondtransmission filter 512 may be composed of a low-pass filter or ahigh-pass filter according to the configuration of the firsttransmission filter 511. In this case, since each of the filters 511 and512 can adjust the operating wavelengths, the operating wavelengths maybe adjusted so that the operating wavelengths can be suitable for thewavelengths of a signal to be transmitted.

In the TEE light intensity-measuring apparatus provided in the WDM-PONaccording to this exemplary embodiment, the operating wavelength of thewavelength-variable optical filter are set to such an extent thatdeterioration of the qualities of a filtered optical signal can beminimized. In this case, the qualities of the optical signal may bedetermined using RIN, etc. FIG. 36 schematically shows the configurationof the TEE light intensity-measuring apparatus. As shown in FIG. 36, theTEE light intensity-measuring apparatus according to one exemplaryembodiment of the present invention includes an optical filter unit 510,an optical receiver 520 and a signal processing unit 530. Here, theoptical filter unit 510 includes a first transmission filter 511 and asecond transmission filter 512. The signal processing unit 530 producesfirst and second control signals configured to control the firsttransmission filter 511 and the second transmission filter 512 accordingto the qualities of an optical signal received at the optical receiver520, and provides the first and second control signals to the firsttransmission filter 511 and the second transmission filter 512,respectively. A method of operating such a wavelength-variable opticalfilter is performed in the same manner as in the wavelength-variableoptical filter described above with reference to FIG. 30. Therefore,specific description of the method is omitted for clarity.

Hereinafter, in the seed light injection-type WDM-PON according to oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention, an optical eye maskdefining the performance of a TEE optical signal and a signal decisionthreshold value of the optical receiver of the HEE will be described.

An optical eye mask is generally used to measure the optical modulationperformance of a Tx. FIG. 37 shows an optical eye mask specified inITU-T G.959.1, which corresponds to the case of a passive opticalnetwork using an LD as the Tx. In the case of the WDM-PON using the LDas the Tx, noise levels of level “1” and level “0” of a modulatedoptical signal are very low due to high coherent characteristics of theLD. As shown in FIG. 37, a crossing level of the optical eye maskspecified in the ITU-T G.959.1 is set to 50%. This is because the level“1” and level “0” have the same noise level.

As described above, however, in the seed light injection-type WDM-PONusing the BLS as the seed light, an RIN value of the seed light inputinto the TEE 300 is very higher than that of the LD. Therefore, anoutput optical signal of the TEE Tx is output in a state in which thelevel “1” has more noise components than the level “0”. In particular,since an optical eye diagram shown in FIG. 38 is observed after theoptical signal passes through the OD/OM in the DWDM link, a crossinglevel is formed below 50% of the optical eye diagram. Therefore, theoptical eye mask having standard specifications as shown in FIG. 37 maynot be used in the case of the seed light injection-type WDM-PON. Thus,an optical eye mask having a structure in which a crossing level islargely shifted downwards should be used to measure the accurate opticalmodulation performance.

The optical eye mask suitable for the TEE Tx of the seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON is preferably determined as shown in FIG. 39 inconsideration of an experimentally measured optical eye diagram. The TEEoutput signal satisfying such an optical eye mask is input into the HEEthrough the DWDM link, and wavelength-demultiplexed while passingthrough the OD/OM of the HEE, and then input into each Rx. Therefore,the Rx of the HEE should convert an optical signal into an electricalsignal in consideration of the crossing level set at the optical eyemask of the TEE signal. That is, when the received optical signal isconverted into an electrical signal, a threshold value used to estimatethe level “0” and the level “1” may vary according to a necessity. Thus,the threshold value preferably varies from 0.45 to 0.35 in considerationof the optical eye mask of the TEE signal. In this case, the decisionthreshold value corresponds to a value when an intensity of level “1” ofthe modulated optical signal is set to “1.” On the other hand, thedecision threshold value may be expressed by 45% to 35%. For thispurpose, the Rx of the HEE is preferably configured to include aphotodiode configured to convert an optical signal into an electricalsignal and output the electrical signal, and a threshold varyingapparatus configured to vary a signal decision threshold value asnecessary, in addition to an amplification unit configured to linearlyamplify the converted electrical signal and convert the linearlyamplified electrical signal into a voltage signal.

Meanwhile, the number of wireless base stations is increased in recentyears to handle exponentially increasing wireless data traffic. Thus,the importance of a wireless backup network configured to connect awireless base station to a mobile base station is also increased. In thecase of 4G wireless network, the access standard of a wireless backupnetwork is selected as a Gigabit Ethernet or common public radiointerface (CPRI) standard according to the configuration of eNodeB usedas the wireless base station.

FIG. 40 is a schematic diagram of a 4G wireless backup network. As shownin FIG. 40, when a remote RF unit (RRU) and a baseband unit (BBU) areincluded inside the eNodeB, the Gigabit Ethernet is used to connect theeNodeB to a gateway. When the gateway of the BBU is shifted to simplifythe eNodeB, the eNodeB and the gateway are connected using the CPRIstandard. In the case of CPRI, a data transmission rate is standardizedinto 9.8304 Gb/s, 6.144 Gb/s, 3.072 Gb/s, 2.4576 Gb/s, 1.2288 Gb/s, and0.6144 Gb/s.

Therefore, to apply the seed light injection-type WDM-PON to such awireless backup network, the TEE Tx should have a modulation rate ofapproximately 6 Gb/s or more. However, optical transceivers having atransmission rate of approximately 2.5 Gb/s is generally used for theCPRI. This is achieved in consideration of the compatibility and thetransmission rate standardized by the typical ITU-T. Therefore, atransmission rate of the seed light injection-type WDM-PON is preferablyapproximately 2.5 Gb/s. That is, the transmission rate of the seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON may be set to such an extent that thetransmission rate can be suitable for the transmission standardspecified by the international standard organization such as ITU-T,IEEE, CPRI, etc.

FIG. 41 shows transmission results in a 2.5 Gb/s seed lightinjection-type WDM-PON. In FIG. 41, single mode fiber (SMF) 10 kmrepresents a bit error rate (BER) according to the reception sensitivityof an optical receiver measured after transmission at a distance of 10km, back-to-back (BtB) represents a BER curve according to the receptionsensitivity of the optical receiver before transmission at a distance of10 km. Channel 1 and channel 18 means that optical signals havedifferent wavelengths, and the error floor is not caused after thetransmission at a distance of 10 km.

Therefore, considering that the maximum transmission distance specifiedin the CRPI standard is 10 km, these experimental results shows that the2.5 Gb/s seed light injection-type WDM-PON is suitable for CPRI standardtransmission. In addition to the 4G wireless backup network, the 2.5Gb/s seed light injection-type WDM-PON may be used for variousapplications. In particular, the 2.5 Gb/s seed light injection-typeWDM-PON may apply to a next-generation optical access network requiringan ultra high-speed broadband service.

In general, the optical access network has a transmission distance of 20km to 40 km, which is longer than the transmission distance required forthe CPRI standard. In the case of the 2.5 Gb/s seed light injection-typeWDM-PON satisfying these requirements, the forward error correction(FEC) technology may be used. The FEC technology is to improve thereception sensitivity of receivers using a code including an errorcorrection function as well as an error detection function by adding alarge number of excess bits to data bits to be transmitted. Generally,application of the FEC technology improves the reception sensitivity ofthe receivers by 6 to 7 dB in the case of the 2.5 Gb/s passive opticalnetwork. As a result, when the FEC in which the loss of an optical fiberis 0.275 dB/km is used, a transmission distance of the 2.5 Gb/s seedlight injection-type WDM-PON may be increased by approximately 26 km ormore. For example, a Reed-Solomon (255, 239) may be used as the FECcode. In this case, the difference in degree of improvement of thereception sensitivity of the receivers may be caused according to theFEC code used. As a result, setting of the FEC code is determinedaccording to the desired standardization of the network.

Meanwhile, in the pattern of the above-described optical eye diagram,the similar pattern is observed in the seed light injection-type WDM-PONregardless of the transmission rate of the TEE Tx. This is because theseed light input into the TEE Tx has a constant RIN value. In this case,the proportion of noise components of level “1” increases as thetransmission rate increases. This is because the noise suppressionefficiency of RSOA or FP-LD used as the TEE Tx is low at highfrequencies. However, a crossing value of an optical eye is maintainedat 0.45 to 0.35 even when the modulation rate increases. Therefore, theoptical eye mask of the TEE Tx in the 2.5 Gb/s seed light injection-typeWDM-PON preferably has a pattern similar to the optical eye mask of the1.25 Gb/s seed light injection-type WDM-PON. Also, a set value of thethreshold varying apparatus used in the HEE Rx is preferably adjusted to0.45 to 0.35 in consideration of the optical eye mask of the TEE signal.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to thepreferred exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that thepresent invention is not intended to limit the above-described exemplaryembodiments, and various modifications and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, themodifications and changes will be included in the annexed claims as longas the annexed claims fall within the scope of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention may be applied to the passive optical network andapplications related to the passive optical network.

1. A wavelength division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM-PON)system, comprising: a head-end equipment; and a plurality of tail-endequipment, wherein the head-end equipment includes a plurality of firstoptical transceivers, a first optical demultiplexer/optical multiplexer(OD/OM) connected to the plurality of first optical transceivers todemultiplex/multiplex light received/transmitted from/to the pluralityof first optical transceivers, and a seed source configured to provideseed signal, wherein each of the plurality of tail-end equipmentincludes a second optical transceiver, wherein the head-end equipmentand each of the plurality of tail-end equipment are connected by using asecond OD/OM.